Combination shirring foot



Aug. 31, 1965 A. MICALE COMBINATION SHIRRING FOOT Filed NOV. 14, 1963Fla. 6

INVENTOR ANGELO M/CAL E ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,203,383COMBINATION SHIRRING FOOT Angelo Micale, 995 Nassau St., NorthBrunswick, NJ. Filed Nov. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 323,812 4 Claims. (Cl.112-434) This invention relates to a shirring foot for a sewing machine.

At present it is necessary to use three different shirring feet forsewing materials of different thicknesses, the shoulders on the bottomof the feet being usually 4 A3", and 1 respectively. The present foot isso constructed that it provides a shoulder which is adjustable as toheight, to accommodate materials of different thicknesses.

At resent there is, for decorative effect, some shirring of goods inwhich a cord runs through a hem, for which work a different shirringfoot must be provided not only for goods of different thicknesses butalso for accomdation of the cord on the left or right side. With thepresent invention, a right or left shirring block may be substituted forthe more usual block and each of these is adjustable for materials ofdifferent thicknesses.

The present invention, by using 3 different shirring blocks in the foot,does the work of 9 shirring feet heretofore necessary.

The drawings illustrate the invention, and in these:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the foot without the shirring block;

FIG. 2 is a view of the left end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a View of the right end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan of the foot, the shank being broken off;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the foot and of the parts to which it isattached;

FIG. 6 is a Vertical section in line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section on line 77 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 8-8 of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are respectively plan, front, rear and side viewsof the shirring block, FIG. being the view when the left end of FIG. 9is turned 90 forward out of the plane of the paper and FIG. 11 the viewwhen the right end of FIG. 9 is turned forward 90;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are bottom plan views of cording blocks with right andleft grooves respectively; and

FIGS. 15 and 16 are sections taken respectively on lines 1515 of FIG. 13and 16--16 of FIG. 14.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description, the foot comprisesa block A, a shirring block B set in the fore part of block A andadjustable vertically therein, and a cylindrical shank C extendingbackwardly from the rear or heel portion of block A whereby the foot maybe adjusted forwardly and backwardly to regulate the degree of shirringand may be adjusted angularly so that its bottom is parallel to thefeeder of a sewing machine, such latter adjustment avoiding the cuttingof thin cloth which occurs when the bottom of the foot is at a sideangle to the feeder, i.e., not parallel with the feeder sidewise.

The block A, which is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 without the shirringblock B, is oblong in outline but has its two rear corners chamfered.Although in one piece, it may be said to have sides 20 and 21, bevelledor chamfered surfaces 23 and 24, and a back 25. A little back of thecurved front edges of the sides, the latter are joined by a bridge 27.The bridge, which extends downwardly between the sides, from the upperedges thereof, is not as thick as the sides are deep; its thicknessbeing shown in FIG. 2. Back of the rear edge of said bridge, the block Ais hollowed out, leaving a partial bottom 29. This bottorn has a centralslot 31 which is elongate in the direction of the longitudinal axis ofthe block and is part of the needle track. In hollowing out the block,the upper portion of the rear part of side 29, and also part of thebevel 24, are cut away to provide a sidewise entrance of the needle to aposition over the needle track 31.

The shirring block B is set into the front of block A, under the bridge27 and between the sides thereof. It has a flat bottom 33 and a convexfront 34, and may be said to comprise (FIG. 9) three sections, viz., arear section 36, a middle section 37, and a front section 38. When theblock B is in place, it normally extends a little below the bottom ofblock A, as in FIG. 5, with the rear edge 39 of section 36 contactingthe edge of the bottom 29 of block A. The upper surfaces of section 36and of bottom 29 are coplanar. Section 36 has a slot 40 extendingforwardly from its rear edge and is in alignment with slot 31 in thebottom of block A, and is a continuation of slot 31 and forms part ofthe needle track. The middle section 31 is deeper than the rear section36 and its upper surface is under the bridge 27. The section 38 of blockB is in contact with the front of the bridge and extends above thelatter, and is divided vertically by a slot 43 which extends downwardlyfrom its upper end and which is enlarged at its front portion, forming ashoulder 45. The inner and narrower portion of slot 43 fits over thescrew 46 while the head of the latter presses against the shoulder 45,holding the shirring block B to block A, as screw 46 is threaded intohole 47 (FIG. 1) in the front of the bridge 27.

To regulate the vertical position of block B relative to block A, andalso to aid in holding the former to the latter, a vertical screw 50passes through a vertical, unthreaded hole 51 (FIG. 1) in the bridge 27and into a threaded vertical hole 52 of section 37 of 'block B, with thehead of the screw resting on the bridge. The farther the screw 50 isthreaded into hole 52, the higher block B is raised with reference toblock A, and the more it is unthreaded the lower block B is positioned.Thus the foot is adapted for shirring goods of different thicknesses. Tolock the regulating screw 50, a set screw 55 (FIG. 5) is threaded intoaperture 56 (FIG. 1) of side 20 of block A, and the screw 46 (FIG. 8)also presses against screw 50.

FIGS. 13-17 show blocks for shirring goods having a cord passing througha hem, and are substituted for block B when necessary. FIGS. 13 and 15show block 58 and FIGS. 14 and 16 show block 59. These blocks aresimilar to shirring block B except that they have longitudinal groovesin their bottoms for the accommodation of a cord, and are similar toeach other except that one has a left hand groove 60 and the other aright hand groove 61.

To regulate the degree of shirring, the shank C may be adjustedlengthwise in a clamp 65 (FIG. 5) which is vertically adjustablerelative to the foot bar 66 to which it is connected by a screw 67. Thelengthwise adjustability of the shank enables a variation in thedistance between the needle and the shirring block, which is whatdetermines the degree of shining, and the angular adjustment of theshank enables the foot to be positioned parallel to the feeder in asidewise direction to avoid cutting the goods.

What is claimed is:

1. A shirring foot having a fiat bottomed heel and having a verticalneedle track through the heel, the needle track being elongate in thefront-rear direction, the foot comprising a shirring block removably setin its fore part and having a bottom which is at a lower level than thebottom of the heel and being relatively movable upwardly and downwardlyso that its bottom may be at a selected level below the bottom of theheel.

2. A shirring foot having a flat bottomed heel and hav ing a verticalneedle track through the heel, the needle track being elongate in thefront-rear direction, the foot comprising a shirring block removably setin its fore part and having a bottom which is at a lower level than thebottom of the heel and being relatively movable upwardly and downwardlyso that its bottom may be at a selected level below the bottom of theheel, and a screw for regulating the level of the shining block.

3. A shirring foot having a fiat bottomed heel and having a verticalneedle track through the heel, the needle track being elongate in thefront-rear direction, the foot comprising a shirring block rem ovablyset in its fore part and having a bottom which is at a lower level thanthe bottom of the heel and being relatively movable upwardly anddownwardly so that its bottom may be at a selected level below thebottom of the heel, the foot also comprising a cylindrical shankextending rearwardly from the heel to provide for forward-backward andfor angular adjust- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATESPATENTS 124,853 3/72 Peterson l12134 962,021 6/10 Graydon 112139 X1,145,645 7/15 Woodward 112-134 1,487,421 3 /24 Witkus 112-240 2,003,6656/35 Karle 112134 X 2,900,942 8/59 Mendles 1l2235 ROBERT V. SLOAN,Primary Examiner.

1. A SHIRRING FOOT HAVING A FLAT BOTTOMED HEEL AND HAVING A VERTICALNEEDLE TRACK THROUGH THE HEEL, THE NEEDLE TRACK BEING ELONGATED IN THEFRONT-REAR DIRECTION, THE FOOT COMPRISING A SHIRRING BLOCK REMOVABLY SETIN ITS FORE PART AND HAVING A BOTTOM WHICH IS AT A LOWER LEVEL THAN THE